An Apple A Day
by l0stinl0ve
Summary: A Bill/Fleur story from the perspective of Victoire and her hatred of Apples.


This is my entry to "Happy Happy Joy Joy Challenge"  
Happy Birthday to BountyHunterGirl134, I hope this makes you smile in the end.  
Thank you to my lovely beta tygermine.

* * *

Victoire wasn't sure what was taking so long. Her parents had finally convinced her that Muggle school would not be the end of the world. She still thought that it was, but Teddy went to Muggle school, and Aunt Hermione said she went to one when she was little, so it couldn't be that bad, right?

She was starting to think it was bad, if her parents continued to take so long. Why should she have to wait to go to a school she didn't even want to go to in the first place? She would much rather go to Grandma's and bake some pie. Maybe an apple pie for Teddy – it was his favorite. She didn't like it very much, but her mama said that it didn't matter what she liked when it came to love – and she sure loved Teddy.

When her papa finally entered the kitchen she scowled at him, her face was all puckered and eyes set to a glare. Her scowl was as good as a five-year-old could get. Teddy always withered at the look, and so did her younger cousins. Her Aunt Ginny said she needed to practice on it if she really wanted to get away with anything. When her daddy finally looked her way, he just laughed at her face and started to prepare breakfast.

It better be something she likes! Not only does she have to go to school today, but she was going to be late!

When her mother finally joined them in the kitchen, she kissed Victoire's forehead and then wrapped her arms around Bill and held him as close as her protruding belly would allow.

Victoire wondered what it would be like to have a husband. She and Teddy played marriage a lot. She liked to do the wedding part the most – she saw pictures from her parents' wedding and would try and recreate it, minus the death eaters of course. Teddy preferred to play parents to Victoire's doll that he named Dora.

One time, Victoire decided she didn't want to play parents and that made Teddy cry. She instantly changed her mind but remembered to ask her mama after play time. Fleur, bless her, explained that Teddy wanted to play parents because he didn't really have any. When Victoire looked confused and said "I thought Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were his parents?" Fleur laughed, which made Victoire very mad. She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, just like any five-year-old was accustomed to do. "It's not funny!" She stomped her little foot, about-faced and trampled away.

When breakfast was finally put in front of her, she ignored the apple for now, and munched on her pancakes while watching her parents.

Grandma said that she knew her mama loved her papa when she didn't leave him after he got the scars. She thought the scars were kind of cool looking, and Teddy would always make himself have the same scars to please her. Victoire wondered if something would happen to prove she loved Teddy. She let him name her doll Dora and she always, always, played parents now, even when she didn't really want to.

Victoire rolled her eyes when her papa started to talk to her mama's stomach. Her little sister was in there. When they would tell her to talk to her, all Victoire could say was "Hi, I'm your older sister. I love you because mama said so. But I won't if you take Teddy," and then she'd walk away. She was fairly certain her she would hear her parents' laughter, but the one time she turned around quickly to catch them, their lips were sealed. She'd have to try harder. Teddy said that it was important to cause mischief. She didn't know why, but her mama said that if you loved someone, you did what was important to them.

When breakfast was done – except the apple, she hid it in her bag – she started to fidget. Her mama wasn't taking to breakfast very well, and Victoire rethought about wanting to be a mama herself. She liked how she just had Dora. She did not want to have to go through what her mama was going through. She of course, did not think about how her mama had to go through this when having her, but that didn't matter to the five-year-old. She just didn't want anything to get in the way of her eating yummy pancakes.

After a few false starts, they finally left Shell Cottage. Victoire was anxious now. What if she really did not like Muggle school? What if she accidentally said something about magic? What if, what if, what if she doesn't see Teddy at all? That was the only reason she finally stopped her tantrum. Her papa picked her up and apparated them behind a large hedge. When her mama followed shortly after, she was finally put down.

She looked down at her clothes to make sure she was presentable. Her periwinkle dress – Aunt Hermione swore by the color – did not look wrinkled, her white Mary Janes weren't dirty, she smelled like apple blossom – she liked the smell, just not the food.

When she looked up to her papa to ask if her face and hair was ok, "He won't care how you look." He just shook his head with a smile, "He hasn't seen you in ages, I know when I haven't seen your mama for a long time, I don't notice how she looks, I just want to kiss her."

Victoire, disgusted with the idea of kissing – she was five, give her a break – made a face. Then she thought about what else her papa had said and decided she liked that and stopped worrying about her appearance.

She grabbed both parents by the hand, and pulled them towards the school. She had a boy to see.

* * *

Fleur found her daughter's crush adorable and encouraged it, whereas Bill tried to ignore it as a childhood fancy that she would grow out of.

However, watching their daughter run off to her beau and throwing her arms around him, they both just knew. It wasn't a fancy, it wasn't just a crush. When she shyly pulled an apple out of her bag and gave it to the young boy, Fleur sighed loudly. When Teddy kissed her on the cheek and Victoire's face instantly broke out in a grin, Bill growled.

And when Teddy put the apple to her mouth and Victoire took a bite out of it without any complaints or puckered face, both parents knew that this was love.


End file.
